Lit: A Lifetime of Secrets

A Lifetime of Secrets
Frank Warren
William Morrow 2007

By Paulette Perhach

In 2004, Frank Warren invited the public to send him all their dirty little secrets, presented on anything that could be sent in the mail.

Some are a letter that could never be sent to the person to whom is was written.

“A Lifetime of Secrets” is the third book to come out of the experiment, which has also been made into an international traveling art exhibit.

What kind of thing could people never tell their closest friend, but just have to write down and mail in for the world to see?

All kinds of things.

Some are celebrations.

Every day I thank myself for giving myself another chance.

Some are silly confessions

When I’ve had a bad day at work, I come home and lie in a huge cardboard box. It makes me remember when I was a kid and felt safe.

Some are dark confessions

When I was 17, I got drunk for the first time and lost my virginity, in a barn. Back then we didn’t call it date rape. It was just being stupid.

Some are a letter that could never be sent to the person it was written to

Whenever I make you a cd, I’ll hide one song that says how I really feel about you.

Some are admissions of a fake life

I won an award at work, but it really should have been The Best Actress Award for playing the part of a functional alcoholic who isn’t secretly destroying her life and can quit without help.

Some are regrets

I still wonder how different my life would have been if I had taken that sunrise walk with you.

Some are things just too weird to tell anyone

When I was 18, I baptized my dog in my living room.

Some are heartbreakers

I handed the most important person in my life the drugs that killed him.

Some are letters to the confessors.

I wish I could help those who send in their secrets. I want to make all the pain go away for them. I am your friend even if you never meet me.

Each page brings a different feeling: Helplessness, that you can’t comfort these people in need. Happiness, that some people have such joy that is so real and intense that they just have to share.

And, the best feeling of all when it comes to art: Thankfulness. Thanks to Frank Warren for collecting all these secrets, transformed into pieces of beautiful art. Maybe all along we just needed someone to ask.

I’m slowly realizing how beautiful life is.

More secrets at postsecret.blogspot.com.